7 of the craziest rulers in history

I present to you the seven monarchs who suffered from serious mental disorders. It should be noted that the information that reached us could have been distorted by political intrigues, and historians still have no clear information about the insanity of some rulers, but contemporaries considered them to be truly insane.

Charles VI (1368 - 1422)

Ironically, the son and successor of the French king Charles V the Wise received a diametrically opposite nickname - Charles VI suffered from hereditary schizophrenia (according to another version - manic-depressive psychosis), for which he was nicknamed Mad.

The first signs of insanity began to manifest in him as early as 1392, after a “fever accompanied by a long fever”: during his illness the king behaved aggressively, was annoyed at every rustle, and also made “movements and gestures incompatible with his royal dignity”. The next attack of the mysterious "fever" overtook Karl in the forest near Le Mans - in a fit he stabbed a personal page and several knights accompanying him.

Ball in flames
But the monarch’s mental disorder became apparent after the “ball of flames”, held in 1393, when in the eyes of Charles VI several of his entourage, dressed like savages, burned down - after this terrible event the king did not let anyone in for several days, including wife and children. In recent years he spent in a painful struggle with his attacks, which made him unruly and aggressive, and only the daughter of the stableman Odette de Shamdiver was able to calm the raging monarch.

Juan I (1479 - 1555)

What diagnoses are attributed to the unfortunate Juana I, the queen of the medieval state of Castile (now part of Spain): chronic depression, necrophilia, and agoraphobia, and many others. But, studying her biography, you know - insane Juana made her tragic fate: in childhood she was a secluded child, she preferred to play alone, away from her two sisters and brother, but in 17 years for political reasons they married Juan the Duke of Burgundy Philip I the Beautiful .

Philip I

By the 21st year, Juana already had two children, she passionately loved and terribly jealous of her husband: Philip had many mistresses, the queen knew about it and often arranged scenes of jealousy for her husband (once she even cut the hair of one of his favorites).

In order to “save” himself from hysterics, Philip began to avoid his wife, which is why she had more and more often nervous seizures - Juana screamed and fought against the walls all night. The series of mysterious deaths aggravated the situation: first, Queen Juan of Asturias’s brother died, then Isabella of Castile’s mother, and then her husband, who became Juan’s regent at this moment, recognized as irresponsible.

The unfortunate queen really madly loved her husband, besides, she bore the third child under her heart, so Philip's death finally drove her crazy: Juana did not leave the deceased for several days, did not allow her to be buried, forbade women to be present at the burial, and then ordered to open it several times the tomb to take another look at the beating fellow.

Eric XIV (1533 - 1577)

Eric XIV - the king of Sweden, famous for his brilliant education, exquisite artistry, political ambitions (he dreamed of strengthening Sweden through external and internal wars), as well as a serious mental disorder that led to schizophrenia.

One of the most obvious signs of the development of the disease was the brutal murder of the Sture family from the city of Uppsala,accomplished by the king in 1567, after which Eric was removed from the crown by his brothers, Juhan and Karl, and with his family was exiled to Turku Castle. Outwardly, it looked like a regular reservation, but in fact it was a real imprisonment - iron bars on the windows, supporting iron upholstery on the gates and doors and 63 armed guards.

However, the overthrown monarch did not accept this fate and began to prepare a conspiracy with the Russian Tsar Ivan IV. the hope that Grozny will free him. This insidious plan was uncovered, and in the last years of his life, Eric changed several places of imprisonment, until he was poisoned by arsenic mixed by the order of his brother in a prison grund.

George III (1738 - 1820)

The life and rule of English King George III fell on a turbulent time: the Great French and American Revolutions, the formation of the United States, and the merciless Napoleonic wars — perhaps it was these serious political events that affected his psyche, and perhaps her disorder was the result of another serious illness - porphyrias, that is, hereditary disorders of pigment metabolism, often accompanied by neuropsychic disruptions.

Despite a rather active political and personal life (Georg had 15 children - nine boys and six girls), by his old age the monarch had become blind, became almost insane and could no longer cope with government tasks. In this regard, in 1811, the eldest son of the King, Prince of Wales, George IV, became his official guardian, and at the same time the ruler of Great Britain. George III died in his 82nd year of life, never having learned that the revolutionary wars of Napoleon I came to an end.

Ludwig II (1845 - 1886)

On June 9, 1886, by decision of the council of doctors of the King of Bavaria Ludwig II, Otto Friedrich Wilhelm was declared incapacitated and removed from government. Dear scholars, led by Bernhard von Gudden, compiled a medical report, according to which the king was subject to compulsory psychiatric treatment because of excessive wastefulness, inability to conduct political affairs and unconventional sexual orientation.
There is no consensus among historians whether Ludwig II was really ill or fell victim to palace intrigues, but the “fairy king” did build several expensive castles (for example, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Herrкимnkimzee) and spent a fortune from the state treasury for entertainment.In addition, he was never married, although one day the "virgin king" still almost got married - in January 1867, he announced an engagement with Sophia of Bavaria, but in October the premarital agreement terminated.

Neuschwanstein Castle
The death of the Bavarian king is no less mysterious: on the evening of July 13, he went for a walk with Dr. Gudden, and at night their lifeless bodies were found on the shore of Lake Starnberg.

Otto I (1848 - 1916)

Otto I is the younger brother of Ludwig II, who ruled Bavaria for 27 years, but in fact, the regents of the king were at the helm because of the "sorrow of the mind". Otto from a young age built a military career, then entered the university, diligently studied various sciences, but in the end, because of "mental illness" was partially isolated from society and was under constant medical supervision.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the twentieth century, psychiatry as a science was in its infancy, and it was impossible to determine exactly what Otto's “mental illness” consisted in, however, based on the known symptoms, he most likely suffered from borderline personality disorder.

Bernhard von Goodden
He was watched by the same doctor as Ludwig II, the famous psychiatrist of that time, Bernhard von Gudden, who tested many therapeutic methods on him. Otto I spent the rest of his life quite sedately - he basked in the baths, ate plenty and smoked cigarettes. The insane king of Bavaria died at the age of 68 years.

Talal ibn Abdullah (1909 - 1972)

Less than a year, the rule of King Jordan Talal ibn Abdullah, who abdicated from the throne because of his grave illness, lasted. Talal had a brilliant education - a diploma from the British Military Academy, but after killing his father and assassinating his son, he had frequent attacks of schizophrenia - a mental disorder with fundamental disorders of thinking and perception, as well as inadequate affect, manifested in hallucinations, paranoid delusions and speech disorganization.

Of course, in this state, Abdullah could not govern the country, in connection with which the government deprived him of royal authority, and his son Hussein became the regent and assignee. After death in 1972, the body of Talal ibn Abdullah was buried in the mausoleum of the Ragadan Palace in Amman.